60,000 Palestinians fled their homes in the neighborhood of Shujaiyya in Gaza City on Sunday amid an intense Israeli assault that left 66 residents dead and hundreds more injured.

Thousands of those who fled have sought refuge in the al-Shifa Hospital in North Rimal, a neighborhood in Gaza's west that many are hoping will not be bombed by Israeli forces.

Survivors of the assault recounted their experiences to a Ma'an reporter at the hospital.

One survivor said that the shells started falling on people's homes on Saturday evening, but because people had nowhere else to go they stayed put.

As dawn fell, however, the shelling intensified and people fled to the streets.

Iman Mansour, a woman who was staying at the hospital with her three injured children, said, "We left our houses forcibly because shells rained down on us."

"No one could reach the bodies of the martyrs or the injured people because of the continuous violent shelling on houses," she added.

Her husband Hamad Mansour said that the shelling was not as intense at sundown, "but with dawn, the random shelling began. Hundreds of shells hit homes, which led people to leave their houses running."

They all moved to the al-Shifa complex, he added.

Umm Wael Mansour, another survivor, told Ma'an: "I lived through the 1967 war, and other wars as well, but this one is indescribable. It's more difficult than the Sabra and Shatila massacres," she said, referencing the killings of thousands of Palestinians in Beirut by Israeli-supported militias during the Lebanese civil war.

"People who came to save us after a shell hit our home were killed on the street," she added, "and there were remains of the bodies of children, women, youth, and elderly on the ground."

She wondered why the houses of innocent people were targeted when there were no militants in them.

Umm Rafat Abu al-Qumeez, meanwhile, cried for her family whose bodies had not yet been recovered from the rubble.

She told Ma'an: "My children are under the rubble, send ambulances because people are dying in Shujaiyya."

A young child Qusai Abu al-Qumeez told Ma'an that he did not know what had happened to his father as he tearfully said, "Dad is at home. I am scared for him."

The Hamas-affiliated al-Qassam Brigades said on Sunday night that it had captured an Israeli soldier, the first since the release of Gilad Shalit in 2011.

Al-Qassam Brigades said during a speech by spokesman Abu Ubaida aired live on Ma'an News that the captured soldier is named Shaul Aron and his military number was 6092065.

"The fact that they did not announce (the loss of the soldier) shows that they were trying to hide their losses," the spokesman said in the speech, noting Israel's lack of response.

The spokesman also warned Israel against taking any steps toward "any kind of foolishness," saying that it was better for them to respond to the rights of the Palestinian people but instead Israel insisted on arrogance.

An Israeli military spokeswoman could not confirm news of the capture.

The claim comes hours after the Israeli military said that Palestinian militants had killed 18 Israeli soldiers since the ground invasion.

News of the kidnapping sparked celebration across Palestinian cities, with gunshots and fireworks heard in Gaza City, Bethlehem, and elsewhere.

Many greeted the news on a day in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed in the most intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip since 2009, including 66 in the neighborhood of Shujaiyya alone.

In the past, Israel has agreed to release Palestinian prisoners kept in Israeli jails in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldiers, and Hamas has called for soldiers to be captured with this aim.

Currently, more than 6,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails, hundreds of which are being held under administrative detention without charge or trial for indefinite periods of time.

The last time Hamas captured an Israeli soldier was Gilad Shalit in 2006. He was kept hostage for six years in the Gaza Strip following the capture, which occurred at the Israel-Gaza Strip border.

Shalit was eventually released as part of a deal in 2011 in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail.

In June and July, Israel re-arrested dozens of those former prisoners in violation of the deal as part of Operation Brother's Keeper, which targeted Hamas members across the West Bank.

Israeli Channel Two on Sunday retracted claims made a day before that an ambulance belonging to the UN's Palestine refugee agency UNRWA was used to transport militants, the organization said.

UNRWA said in a statement that the channel, which is Israel's highest-rating TV news network, had retracted the "false and damaging allegations" after being confronted with "incontrovertible evidence" that they were "baseless" by the organization.

"There are many false reports circulating about UNRWA right now. This is another regrettable example in that long catalog of sloppy journalism," said UNRWA Spokesman, Chris Gunness, in a statement.

"The constant repetition of baseless allegations about the UN allows false mythologies to take root. I encourage members of the public to treat them with the suspicion they deserve and I call on all journalists to check with us first before damaging the credibility of their organizations."

In the past, the Israeli military has used claims that militants use ambulances to transport weapons or hospitals to store them in order to justify attacks on those sites, which are prohibited under international law protecting civilians.

"UNRWA is working under incredible pressure right now in Gaza providing assistance to tens of thousands of people displaced by the fighting. Even during this extraordinarily difficult situation, we do our utmost to maintain the highest standards of neutrality for our staff, our property and in our installations," Gunness concluded.

Channel Two in the past published a similar retraction following claims that UNRWA had not maintain a neutral record.

UNRWA is the UN agency originally set up in 1949 to ensure for relief and development for the 750,000 Palestinian refugees expelled from what became the State of Israel in 1948.

Today, the agency provides health care, education, social services, and other forms of aid to nearly 5 million Palestinian refugees, including around a million in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday there was "very strong" international support for the military's ongoing operation in Gaza that has killed more than 430 Palestinians in 13 days.

"We are carrying out a complex, deep, intensive activity inside the Gaza Strip and there is world support for this ... very strong support within the international community for the activity that the IDF is doing," he said at a press conference in the defence ministry in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu has said Israel won "international legitimacy" for its military operation in Gaza after it accepted an Egyptian truce proposal on July 15 which was shunned by Hamas.

"As a democratic state, Israel is using the legitimate tools of self-defense to try and harm those who are firing rockets at us. I think this distinction is clear to most world leaders," he said.

Israel's right to self-defense in the face of militant rocket fire from Gaza has won repeated broad support from Washington although it has raised concerns about the rising number of civilian deaths.

Earlier on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry blamed Hamas for perpetuating the bloody conflict in Gaza by "stubbornly" refusing all ceasefire efforts.

By its behavior, Hamas had "invited further actions" by Israel, he said, demanding the movement take responsibility for the consequences of its actions.

Although Netanyahu said the military's ground campaign would expand as much as necessary to destroy a network of cross-border tunnels used by militants to stage attacks inside Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon suggested it could be over within days.

"My assessment is that in another two or three days, the lion's share of the tunnels, from our perspective, will be destroyed," he said at the same press conference.

Israeli forces killed at least 100 Palestinians on Sunday including 66 in a single neighborhood of Gaza City, bringing the 13-day death toll to 437.

The assault on Gaza -- which has also left 18 Israeli soldiers and two civilians dead -- is the largest and deadliest attack on the besieged coastal enclave since 2008. More than 200 Palestinians have died since the ground invasion began on Thursday.

On Sunday, 66 bodies were recovered from the Shujaiyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, in what medical authorities called a "massacre" and a level of violence not seen before in the ongoing conflict.

At least 500 Palestinians were injured in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, with the total surpassing 3,000 as Gazan hospitals struggled to cope with the surge and facing shortages of medical supplies, doctors, and hospital beds.

Hospitals were also facing continuous power cuts, as electricity has fallen by more than 70 percent as a result of Israeli shelling and the siege itself, which even prior to the assault had reduced electricity availability to eight-hour stints.

60 thousand Gazans fled their homes on Sunday alone amid the mass killing in the Shujaiyya neighborhood, adding to a total number of displaced that has now hit 135,000.

Sources familiar with the situation argued, however, that there is not a single place safe from Israeli attack in the besieged coastal enclave, as shelling from land and sea as well as air strikes have not left any region untouched.

Palestinian analysts expressed astonishment at Israel claims that 1.7 million Gaza residents had been warned to leave their homes, asking: "Where in the world can they go?"

Israel has kept its border with Gaza shut tight to the flight of refugees, while Egypt has also maintained the seven-year-old Israeli-led blockade of the Strip by keeping its border closed as well.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the operation would continue until quiet was restored in southern Israel.

Operation Protective Edge was launched 13 days ago in what Israel said was an attempt to stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, which had increased after Israel launched a massive operation in the West Bank that left 10 Palestinians dead, 130 injured, and more than 600 Hamas-affiliated individuals in prison.

The operation, named "Brother's Keeper," was launched in order to find three Israeli teenagers who disappeared in June from the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion in the West Bank.

Israel blamed Hamas for the kidnapping without any evidence, a charge which the group denied.

Shelling and airstrikes resume Sunday afternoon

On Sunday afternoon, Israeli shelling fully resumed after a four-hour humanitarian ceasefire that it violated numerous times, and dozens more had been killed in the Gaza Strip as a result.

Rayan Taysir Abu Jami, 8, and an elderly woman named Fatima Mahmoud Abu Jami were killed and three injured in an air strike on Khan Younis on Sunday evening, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesman in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidra.

Eight Palestinians were also killed in Israeli air strike on house in al-Ramal.

Rayan Taysir Abu Jami, 8, and an elderly woman named Fatima Mahmoud Abu
Jami were killed and three were injured in an air strike on Khan Younis
on Sunday evening, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesman
in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidra.

US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday blamed Hamas for the continuation of the conflict in Gaza, saying that the group was refusing all ceasefire efforts.

"They've been offered a ceasefire and they've refused to take the ceasefire," Kerry told ABC television, adding that Hamas has "stubbornly" refused efforts to defuse the conflict "even though Egypt and others have called for that ceasefire."

By its actions Hamas had "invited further actions" by the Israelis to stop the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, Kerry said.

Hamas said earlier in the week that it was not consulted on the proposed ceasefire before it was announced, implying that the offer was a ploy to justify a further expansion of the Israeli assault.

"It's ugly, obviously, war is ugly. And bad things are going to happen. But they need to recognize their own responsibility," he added, referring to Hamas.

He urged Hamas to "be responsible and accept ... a multilateral ceasefire without conditions."

More than 60 Palestinians were killed Sunday as Israeli forces pounded northern Gaza, sending thousands more fleeing in terror in the deadliest assault on the enclave in five years.

Sunday's bloody toll prompted urgent efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross to broker a temporary ceasefire to allow paramedics to evacuate the dead and wounded in a deal accepted by both sides.

Blitzing the Sunday television talk shows, Kerry said he was planning to meet up with UN chief Ban Ki-moon who is headed to the Middle East to lend his efforts to seeking a truce.

"We're working on the idea of a ceasefire," Kerry told CNN television, adding that President Barack Obama was to speak later Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Israel is under siege by a terrorist organization that has seen fit to dig tunnels and come through those tunnels with handcuffs and tranquilizer drugs, prepared to try to capture Israeli citizens and take them back to hold them hostage," Kerry said.

"No country could sit by and not take steps to try to deal with people who are sending thousands of rockets your way."

More than 420 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's 13-day assault, while 18 Israelis -- 16 of whom were soldiers invading Gaza -- have perished.

Palestinian religious and national institutions jointly announced a complete strike on Monday in protest against the Israeli offensive on Gaza, which has left 425 Palestinians dead in the last 13 days.

The general director of the Palestinian initiative Mustafa Barghouthi told Ma'an on Sunday that Islamic and nationalist leaders in the West Bank as well as Palestinian leaders inside Israel had decided to go on strike on Monday in solidarity with Gaza.

The head of the public workers union Bassam Zakarneh said a strike will be observed on Monday in all institutions and ministries in condemnation of the "massacres" suffered by the people in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that an operation to destroy a network of tunnels used by militants in Gaza could be over "fairly quickly" but would not be pinned down on specifics.

In an interview with CNN's "State of the Union" weekly talk show, Netanyahu also called for an international effort to demilitarize the enclave.

His comments came on day 13 of the deadliest assault on Gaza in five years and as Israel said its ground operation to destroy the network of tunnels used by the militants to stage cross-border attacks was to "expand" later Sunday.

"We're taking action to neutralize the tunnels and do it as long as necessary," Netanyahu said.

But when asked later how long the destruction of the tunnels would take, he responded: "Fairly quickly."

"The important thing right now is not to begin to put terms. I think the important thing is to end the hostilities and then get into a situation where we have a sustainable ceasefire," he added.

In that context, Netanyahu called for the demilitarization of Gaza.

"Gaza, under all the previous agreements should have been demilitarized. Instead of being demilitarized it became an Iranian financed and equipped fortress of terror with thousands and thousands of rockets and other weapons being smuggled and developed in it. That has to stop. Those tunnels have to be shut down."

"I think the international community has to, once this is put in place, we really have to undertake a program to demilitarize Gaza and to change the situation because it's unacceptable," he added.

As Israel stepped up its offensive, 87 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, bringing the total number of casualties to 425, according to figures provided by an emergency services spokesman. On the Israeli side, the death toll stood at twenty.

Netanyahu, while expressing regret for the civilian deaths, blamed Hamas for the bloodshed.

"Hamas is both targeting civilians and they are hiding behind civilians. That is a double war crime," he said in a separate interview with ABC's "This Week."

"All civilian deaths, as regrettable as they are, fall on their shoulders," he said.

The ambulances and firetrucks of Gaza's emergency services gathered on the edge of the Shujaiyya district to await news of a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group.

The word arrived at 12:30 p.m. -- a two-hour truce to allow the retrieval of the dead and wounded, as well as evacuate the terrified people who remained inside the district after a night of non-stop Israeli tank fire.

A convoy of vehicles formed, advancing slowly into the district, with the sound of shelling still thudding through the air.

It was impossible to tell if it was in the Shujaiyya district, or an adjacent neighborhood, so the vehicles moved in anyway.

Inside were scenes of absolute devastation: entire buildings collapsed on themselves or strewn into the streets.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma'an that 13 soldiers have been killed in intense fighting in the Gaza Strip on Sunday alone, bringing the total to at least 18 since the beginning of a ground invasion late Thursday.

The Israeli military spokeswoman said that all of the soldiers killed were from the elite Golani Brigades.

The military said in a statement released around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday that it was still "completing the identification process" and that the names would be made public following checks with the families.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military confirmed that 60 Israeli soldiers had been wounded in fighting, a number which is expected to rise.

The wounded include a commander in the Golani Brigade.

Palestinian militants have engaged the Israeli military in fierce fighting across the Gaza Strip since they launched a ground invasion on Thursday.

Since the fighting began, hamas has released numerous videos and images which purport to show captured Israeli weapons.

The Israeli deaths include
a Hamas cross-border raid into Israel on Saturday that killed two
Israeli soldiers as they were patrolling in the southern region of
Eshkol.

In Friday, meanwhile, eyewitnesses said that Israeli
forces had been forced to retreat from Beit Lahiya, even while Israeli
forces made progress in their invasion across swathes of northern and
southern Gaza.

Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip 13
days ago, with near continuous air strikes and shelling from land and
sea on the besieged coastal enclave of 1.7 million people.

Israeli
forces launched a ground invasion on late Thursday which has so far
killed more than 200 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are
civilians, including 66 in one neighborhood of Gaza City alone on
Sunday.

Israel said that the operation -- which it called
"Protective Edge" -- was meant to reduce rocket fire from the region
into Israel, which ahd increased in June and early July after Israel
launched a massive assault against Hamas in the West Bank that left 10
Palestinians dead, 130 injured, and more than 600 Hamas-affiliated
individuals in prison.

That operation was launched in response to
the disappearance of three Israeli teenagers from a Jewish settlement
in the West Bank in June, which Israel accused Hamas of involvement in
but which Hamas denied.

You find the photo's/video's disturbing? Remember, this is what Palestinian children see almost every day